Eternity
by TheHonoraryAmerican
Summary: A rogue bend, a determined stranger, and overwhelming grief. They all tie together to shape the path Henry LaMontagne is going to take in life.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Ok, I rewrote Highway to Hope because I got a better idea for it. Enjoy it!**

* * *

His hands gripped the steering wheel as they flew down the highway towards home, trees whipping by them on either side of the darkened road.

Looking to his right as his friends carried on loudly in the backseat, Henry LaMontagne gave his girlfriend, Elle, a soft smile. She said nothing, only reciprocated the gesture with a smile of her own, reaching across and locking her fingers with Henry's for just a moment before he turned back to the road.

"Hey Henry, turn it up, let's get legless," his friend Alex called out drunkenly from the backseat. With his Scottish accent and the effects of the alcohol, it was turning into quite the comedy.

"I think you're legless enough Alex, I'll have to carry you inside," Henry laughed.

"Yer no any fun," Alex slurred, collapsing back against his seat as the two either side of him started singing loudly and off-key to the radio.

Henry chuckled. "Here you go, you nutter"

Reaching over, he turned the volume on the radio up amidst cheers from the backseat. With a grin on his face as they started a very drunken rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, he shook his head.

The lights of the city shone in the distance as they rounded a bend in the road. Elle was quiet in the passenger seat as their friends continued to party in the back.

The road began to straighten out again and Henry relaxed his grip on the wheel. He turned to Elle, grinning in defeat at the raucous behaviour behind them. Elle chuckled in response, not needing words to know what Henry was grinning about.

It was barely a split second later, when Henry's eyes had just slid back to the road, when the flash of light erupted across the windshield, and the entire world rolled out from beneath them.

* * *

"You made me go down into a ditch when I was just off crutches, because your shoes were Italian leather," Reid exclaimed over the rising chatter at the table.

"My shoes weren't really Italian leather, I just didn't want to go into the ditch," Rossi admitted to raucous laughter from the other members of the team.

They were out for one of their rare get togethers outside of work, at a new Italian restaurant that had opened up just a few blocks away from Rossi's. It was so rare that they were able to get together without the evil that resided as a backdrop within their everyday work.

"So who's children are going to result in a phone call tonight? 'Excuse me Sir, this is Officer Davies, I have your son here... he's a bit drunk'," Hotch said with a chuckle.

"That was one time!" JJ laughed. "And trust me, we reamed him out for it"

"I think it was more you reamed him out for it and I just stood beside you and occasionally nodded or said "listen to your mother!"" Will butt in, making the others laugh.

"Yeah, that's pretty much how it goes. Mom does the yelling, Dad just stands there and pretends he knows what's going on," Morgan chuckled.

"Only way to get it done," Will agreed, reaching across and bumping Morgan's fist as their table mates laughed.

JJ shook her head as she grinned at her husband. He was such a goof: sometimes she was sure she could swear she had three children, not two.

* * *

Steven Erskine was going to be a dead man.

He had promised his wife, his beautiful Isabella, that he would be home no later than 9pm. It was now after 10, and he was still at least twenty minutes from home.

She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on, but by god, she was terrifying when she was mad. It certainly didn't help that she was eight months pregnant with their first child, and the hormones were running rampant. Steven knew he was in for a hell of a tongue lashing the second his big toe crossed the threshold.

He slowed down as he came to a bend, wanting to keep the car steady and secure on the dark highway. He dipped his lights in case another car came around at the same time, and kept his hands steady on the wheel. The last thing he needed was to have a car accident getting home. Isabella would resurrect him from his own grave so she could kill him herself.

Moments later, the road was straightening out once more and he was relaxing a little... well, as much as he could knowing what was waiting for him at home.

'Maybe I should stop and get her her favourite takeout, or some ice-cream' he thought to himself.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when his headlights started to illuminate a scattering of debris across the road.

Frowning, Steven slowed down, watching in bewilderment as the debris grew larger and larger the further along the road he got.

And then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flicker of orange. It was dancing between the trees at the edge of the road. It only took Steven a few moments to realise it was fire.

Pulling to the side of the road, he stopped altogether, all thoughts of Isabella leaving his mind as he cut the ignition and climbed out of his car. The air was cold, almost frosty, and Steven could see his breath forming curls in the darkness before him.

Taking a few steps towards the ditch at the edge of the road, Steven instinctively reached down to make sure his phone was in his pocket.

The closer he got, the more the flames appeared to be rising, but he steeled himself against the imminent danger and slowly traipsed down the side of the ditch.

Now that he was below the rise of the road, he could see a car wedged between the trees, flames licking the underside of the engine, dangerously close to fuel lines. The car had clearly left the road at speed and was now completely wrecked.

His breath was caught in his throat; surely no-one could have survived this.

He was close enough to see in the window of the driver's side, the flames lighting up the face of the young boy inside the car. Beyond him, Steven could see four more people; a girl in the passenger seat, as well as the two boys and another young girl in the back. All had their eyes closed, their faces pale and bloodied.

And then the driver groaned.

Steven gasped softly, leaning closer as he looked towards the younger man.

His stomach turned violently and he nearly had to back away.

Protruding from the driver's upper abdomen was a thick fence post that had clearly broken off in the collision. A short glance to the back of the car revealed that it had come in through the left rear window and had completely nailed the driver to his seat.

Without further hesitation, Steven closed his hand around the door handle and yanked it as hard as he could. The door cracked open slightly, but the hinges were so mangled that he thought it was unlikely he would ever get it open.

Somehow though, he had to. The fire was building, and he knew it was just a matter of minutes before the flames came in contact with the fuel and ignited a fiery explosion.

"Get me out," the driver mumbled, his face contorted in pain. Steven turned his attention completely to the car door; if the driver was aware of the pain he was in, he was conscious and alert. Steven knew it would be safe to divert his attention entirely to the door for a few moments.

Mustering all his strength, he pulled at the door, grunting with the effort, but managing to grind the hinges around until it was open just wide enough for a person to fit through.

But his problem was only getting bigger. For now, he had to get the driver out of the vehicle and to a safe point on the highway, without fatally killing him via the fence post lodged through his abdomen.

He needed to call 911. But first, he had to get the young men and women out of the vehicle. Or they would surely die before help even had a chance to arrive.

* * *

Will had noticed when JJ started to slowly drop off from the conversation. The others continued to talk joyfully around them, but JJ had gone silent, absently twirling her wedding ring as she frowned at the table.

"Cher?" Will asked softly, reaching across to cover her hand with his, effectively stopping her fidgeting. "You've gone all quiet. You know I worry when you do that"

JJ sighed, looking up at her husband.

"I think I should call Henry," she said quietly.

Will shook his head, squeezing JJ's hand. "You don't need to do that. The boy will be fine"

JJ said nothing, her hand limp under Will's as she stared anxiously at the table before her, her mind running a million miles a minute.

"I just have this weird feeling. I just need to call him," she said softly, extracting her hand and rising from her seat.

Will nodded, knowing better than to argue with his wife once she had made up her mind. He watched as she walked to the front of the restaurant and disappeared into the cold night to make her phone call, before turning back to the table.

"JJ alright?" Morgan asked quietly as Reid and Prentiss entered a loud, slightly tipsy debate over who was more valuable to the BAU.

"Being a mom," Will chuckled. "She's checking in on Henry"

Morgan grinned. "To think she never planned on being a parent... she's damn good at it"

"She is. She worries a lot but our boys wouldn't be the people they are today without having JJ as their mom," Will replied.

He was half expecting JJ to return and say that Henry hadn't answered (as usual) and so it was that he settled back against his chair and listened to the streams of conversation flowing around him.

Some five minutes later, the front door had been wrenched open and JJ was flying back towards the table, her pale face and manic demeanour catching the attention of her husband and her colleagues.

"JJ?" Will asked worriedly.

"We have to go," JJ said quickly, grabbing her handbag.

"JJ, if Henry didn't answer his phone it's probably just because he's driving-" Will started, rising and holding out his hands to steady his wife.

"Henry didn't answer, but a firefighter did. They've been in an accident"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I wrote this while listening to 'Amen', the song from the end of Sick Day. What an INCREDIBLE episode, I am blown away yet again by AJ's talent.**

* * *

"What's your name?"

His eyes were so heavy, but that didn't stop the pain coursing through his body. From what he could tell, he was in an ambulance, and every time it so much as bumped, it was absolute agony for him.

"Can you tell me your name?"

Henry. His name was Henry. Somehow, he had to make his voice work. He had to move his lips.

"Hen...ry," he choked out, grimacing in pain as the ambulance rocked from side to side round a corner.

"Henry, what's your last name?"

The voice talking to him was kind and gentle... definitely a woman. Somehow, that was comforting to him. Somehow, they reminded him of his mom.

"L'm-tagne," he mumbled, fighting to open his eyes. There was bright light above him; it was burning through his eyelids.

"LaMontagne?"

Thank god she was smart.

Henry could only nod, seconds before the ambulance hit a pot hole and he cried out in excruciating pain. His body felt like it was completely on fire, and all he wanted was for it to end.

"Help me," he cried, his hands shaking as he finally forced his eyes open to see the young medic leaning over him.

"I'm doing my best, Henry, I know you're in a lot of pain, but we're almost at the hospital. Once we're there, they can hopefully put you under a general anaesthetic, and you won't feel the pain," she said gently as she pushed a dose of something clear through his IV. "I've given you Fentanyl, it'll help you disassociate the pain for now"

Henry let out a strangled sob, his hand clenching the blanket draped over him. He was now fully aware of the fact that he was lying slightly towards his left side; surely so that he didn't lie on the fence post impaling him through his chest.

"We're almost there Henry, just try and stay calm for me," the medic said gently, squeezing his hand.

Pain was consuming him and it was all he could do to ignore the beckon of sweet unconsciousness. Closing his eyes, he gritted his teeth as the ambulance shook its way over a pot hole in the road.

Why did he have to live this pain? Why couldn't the accident have just ended it?

* * *

The entire way to the hospital, JJ was dead silent. So silent that it was starting unnerve Will.

He'd known her to go quiet when she was anxious, but this was on a completely new level. Not once had she checked her phone, asked him to turn the radio down, or even voiced an ounce of concern.

They were four blocks from Georgetown Hospital when Will decided to speak up.

"Darlin'? You alright?" he said gently as they came to a stop at a red light.

"Yeah," JJ breathed. "Just worried about Henry"

Will reached over, taking her hand and giving it a comforting squeeze. "I'm sure the boy's fine"

"Then why did a firefighter answer his phone!" JJ snapped suddenly, making Will jump back. "If he was fine, why didn't he answer his own goddamn phone!?"

"JJ, breathe-"

"Don't tell me to fucking breathe," JJ said viciously, throwing herself back in her seat as the light turned green and Will slowly pulled away.

"JJ... you just need to calm down, and I know how much you hate bein' told that, but you do. We don't know how badly Henry's hurt, but until we find out, we have to believe he's gonna be ok. There are many reasons why Henry may not have answered his own phone. Maybe it got thrown out of the car and therefore it wasn't actually on Henry when you rang. Maybe Henry's fine but he's in shock and it was easier for the firefighter to speak to you himself," Will explained as calmly as he could. "We don't know what's gonna happen but we have to believe it's gonna be good"

"Sorry," JJ mumbled. "I'm just... a little scared. How do parents handle stuff like this?"

Will chuckled. "Like everythin' else I s'pose. As it comes"

A few minutes later, they were parked up in the emergency room lot and walking hand in hand into the hospital, feeling much calmer than when they had hastily left the restaurant.

However, the calm was short lived.

"What can I help you with today?" asked the desk clerk as they approached the counter. She was fairly young, with a bright smile and kind eyes; exactly the kind of person suited to working in a hospital.

"Our son, Henry LaMontagne, was brought in from a car accident?" Will replied softly.

To his dismay, the clerk's face fell, only slightly, but still enough that the couple noticed. One of the nurses standing behind her turned around. Her face was fraught with stress, no doubt from the things she witnessed day to day in a busy ER.

"It's ok Kelly, I'll take it from here," she said, stepping forward and placing a hand on the clerk's upper arm. Looking up at JJ and Will, she gave them a tight smile. "Why don't you come with me?"

Immediately, JJ felt sick to her stomach. She breathed in sharply, her grip on Will's hand tightening as she swallowed heavily to fight back the nausea.

"You must be Jennifer and William," the nurse said gently as she walked out from behind the counter and beckoned for the two worried parents to follow her. "I'm Rachel Hall, I'm one of the nurses placed to oversee your son's care"

"How is he?" JJ managed to say, her voice thick and strangled with every word.

Rachel stopped just short of a set of swinging double doors, turning to face the two parents.

"When your son was brought in, his condition was critical. We have managed to stabilise him now but I will warn you now that he is still in a serious condition. Were you informed of the extent of the accident or your son's injuries?"

Will shook his head, sensing that JJ was now frozen with anxiety beside him.

"Your son was the only survivor of the accident," Rachel said softly. "When the paramedics reached the crash scene, Henry had been freed from the vehicle by a man who was the first person on the scene. Unfortunately, in the accident, Henry sustained a severe injury to his chest... he was impaled by a five foot fence post"

JJ's stomach rolled dangerously as Will's grip on her hand turned into a clench.

"I can allow you to see your son before he's taken to surgery, but I want to warn you now that it may be too confronting... visually, his condition is rather graphic," Rachel said seriously, stepping back and reaching her hand out towards the swinging doors.

Without a word, JJ and Will followed, losing their grip on each other in the short walk to the doors.

What they entered into was a flurry of activity as the doctors and nurses in the room continued to work to keep Henry stabilised and alive.

In the middle of it was Henry, pinned down to the gurney as his cries of pain rose above all the other noise in the room. What was left of the fence post was protruding viciously from the upper half of the right side of his chest, and his skin was slick with blood.

"I can't give him a high enough dose of Morphine to relieve his pain without overdosing him. The only other option is to put him under a sedative now," the doctor called out, his voice calm despite the emergent situation.

JJ wasn't sure if she was going to be sick or not, but tears were already tracking down her face in silent distress as her brain began to fully comprehend the seriousness of the situation Henry was in.

"Anaesthesiology don't want him knocked out until he's in the OR," one of the nurses called out as she hung up the phone.

"Are they insane? He's got a fence post through his chest!" the doctor snapped.

Silently, Rachel put an arm around JJ's shoulders and guided her forward towards the left side of Henry's head. A few moments later, Will followed hesitantly, unsure if he was going to be in the way of the medical staff working on his son.

"Sit over here and try to reassure him. We can't give him any more pain medication than we already have. Hopefully seeing you might help him calm down," Rachel said just loudly enough for JJ to hear. JJ nodded, wiping away her tears as she took the stool the doctor pushed over to her.

Her hands were shaking as she lifted one up to the top of Henry's head. It was then that he realised who was beside him.

"Mom," he choked out through tears and gritted teeth.

"It's alright," JJ said softly, taking a deep breath to control the tears that wanted to flood down her cheeks. "Your dad and I are here, everything's going to be ok"

"I'm sorry," Henry sobbed as Will gently took his uninjured hand. "I didn't mean- I, I tried to-"

"Shh," JJ said softly, stroking the top of Henry's head. "Save your strength. We don't care what happened... we just want you to walk out of here, ok?"

Nodding through an anguished cry of pain, Henry's grip on his father's hand became death-like, but Will never flinched.

Minutes later, Henry was being wheeled from the room and JJ and Will were left alone with the doctor. Neither of them knew what to do next. Was that the last time they were going to see their son?

"I'm Doctor Mitchell. I just wanted to discuss the surgery we're about to put Henry through with you both," the doctor said gently, holding out his hand for Will to shake it.

"Is he going to be ok?" JJ asked thickly as Will put an arm around her waist and pulled her a little closer.

"Your son is in a critical condition, I won't lie to you. Unfortunately... and this is not a conversation I want to have here, but we really don't have the time... the post in his chest may have severed the main artery leading down to his right arm. If it has... there's really no way to repair the connection, and we will need to get permission from either you two or Henry to amputate his right arm should the situation arise"

Those were the words that broke JJ. She gagged, barely registering when Will grabbed her and steered her straight for the sink in the corner. He only just got her there in time before the contents of her stomach made a violent reappearance.

Wordlessly, Dr Mitchell handed Will some tissues, which he held out to JJ when she finally straightened up.

"I understand this is difficult," Dr Mitchell said gently as JJ wiped her mouth and turned shakily back into Will's arms. "I do wish we had more time to fully discuss Henry's condition and while we feel this may be a necessary action, but as it is, Henry is bleeding out. If you give permission, we will do everything necessary to save his life. If not, we will still do everything possible, but there's a chance it may not be enough"

Will shook his head, his voice breaking with emotion for the first time as he spoke. "Do whatever you have to do, we just want our son to stay alive"

JJ nodded in agreement before turning and burying her face in Will's shoulder as her body shook with sobs. She never heard when the doctor left the room, leaving them standing alone in the trauma bay where their son's blood coated the floor.

For the first time in their lives, they were truly faced with losing their child.

"Shh," Will said shakily, holding JJ close as he tried to stifle his own tears. "Our boy's gonna be ok... he's gonna be ok"

No matter what happened, Will knew from that moment onwards, their lives were never going to be the same.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I was getting sleepy towards the end so I hope it's coherent!**

* * *

A call to the team to inform of the situation had resulted in them showing up at the hospital an hour later, not wanting JJ and Will to be alone as they waited for their son to return from surgery.

Feeling that JJ would be ok being left with her team, Will had left to go and pick up Michael from his sleepover; if, god forbid, something happened to Henry and he didn't make it through, Will didn't want Michael to lose the chance to say goodbye to his big brother.

JJ, in the meantime, was frozen on the bank of chairs in the surgical waiting room. It had been only an hour so far, but to the worried mother, it might as well have been a lifetime.

Feeling the seat shift as someone else sat down beside her, JJ finally broke her gaze, turning to her right to find Emily at her side.

"Hey," she breathed, acutely aware of just how weak her voice sounded.

"You doing ok?" Emily asked, reaching over and squeezing JJ's hand.

JJ shrugged. "I don't know"

Lifting her hand from JJ's, Emily dropped her arm around her friend's shoulders. She could feel how tense JJ was, how the anxiety and fear was radiating off every inch of her body.

"It hasn't sunk in," JJ said softly. "It hasn't sunk in that we could lose him, or that..."

Not needing words to know where JJ's sentence was headed, Emily gave her friend a gentle squeeze, trying to reassure her as best she could.

She couldn't begin to imagine how JJ and Will were feeling. How they had had to give their consent for the doctors to amputate their son's arm in order to save his life. Henry would never be the same, and by extent, neither would anyone else. While Emily knew that in the grand scheme of things, losing an arm was a small price to pay for saving a life, it was not a decision she would ever want to make.

The doors to the surgical waiting room swung open at that moment, an exhausted looking Will dragging himself through them as the youngest LaMontagne followed behind him.

Rising up, JJ walked towards her boys, wrapping her son in a tight hug as soon as she reached them. The others could see that Michael had no idea what was going on, but he knew his mother just needed the comfort.

Leaving his wife and son, Will walked over to the corner where Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan were sitting flanked together. Without a word, he collapsed into the seat beside Morgan, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion as he tipped his head back.

Just five minutes. He would close his eyes for just five minutes.

* * *

"Mr and Mrs LaMontagne?"

At the sound of the doctors voice, Will jerked awake. Sun was streaming into the room through the skylight panels just below the ceiling. How long had he been asleep?

Blearily getting to his feet, he walked towards the doctor as JJ, who had clearly also passed out sometime during the night, followed just a few steps behind him. Michael had curled up on the other side of Emily and was now fast asleep with his head in her lap, Emily's hand placed protectively on his arm.

"Mr and Mrs LaMontagne?" the doctor clarified, getting a nod from both JJ and Will. "I'm Doctor Hamilton. Would you like to accompany me to a private room to discuss your son's surgery?"

Taking a quick glance around, JJ nodded; if they were about to receive bad news, she didn't want it to be in front of a number of strangers, both for her sake and theirs.

Moments later they were following the doctor down the hallway to a smaller room that contained two sofas, a dining area, and a small kitchenette. Will's hand found JJ's on the short walk from the main waiting room, but it did nothing to quell the churning in JJ's stomach.

"Before you panic... Henry made it through the surgery just fine," Hamilton said with a smile, gesturing for JJ and Will to take a seat. JJ audibly let out a sigh of relief as she and Will all but collapsed onto the sofa against the far wall.

Taking a seat on the adjacent couch, Hamilton clasped his hands as he leant forward to speak to the visibly relieved parents.

"Henry made it through the surgery as well as we could have hoped," he repeated. "In fact, given the condition he was in when he was brought to me, I would say he breezed through it"

JJ managed a smile, her grip on Will's hand instinctively tightening. She could sense something else was coming.

"You were told by Doctor Mitchell that due to the damage caused by the fence post, there was a possibility that to save Henry's life, we would have to amputate his right arm," Hamilton said softly. "Unfortunately, when we removed the post from his chest, it had severed the major artery that supplies blood to his arm. We were able to stop the bleeding, but there was no way to repair the artery. As yet, we haven't gone ahead with the amputation because it didn't turn out to be the life or death situation we anticipated... but it's something that we are going to have to do within the next week. Otherwise, the lack of blood flow is going to kill the limb very quickly and it will greatly increase Henry's risk of infection"

Fighting back tears, JJ let go of Will's hand, dropping her face into her hands as she tried to suppress her emotion.

"I understand that it's a very difficult decision. There is, of course, the option of not amputating... but his arm will have no function whatsoever, and it may even hinder his recovery and ability to adapt to his new circumstances. It will carry a greater risk of infection and a possibility of necrosis, which could result in excruciating pain closer to his shoulder and chest. Medically, it's not a decision I can wholeheartedly recommend," Hamilton explained honestly.

"Can we wait until he wakes up? He's eighteen, I want him to at least know what's happening to him," JJ said tearfully, lifting her face from her hands.

"We can... but due to the level of pain he's going to be in when he comes round, we are keeping him heavily sedated for the next few days in order to keep him comfortable and allow him to rest," Hamilton replied. "I understand you want your son to be involved in the decision as he is legally able to be, but we may have to keep him under for at least a few days. In that case, your consent is perfectly fine"

This was it. Their lives, from this very moment, were never going to be the same.

JJ couldn't even begin to imagine being in Henry's shoes when he woke from his drug induced sleep. He would wake with one less limb than he remembered, as well as having to eventually hear the news that neither his girlfriend nor his friends had survived the crash.

Oh how JJ wished her kids were still small so they could be protected from the heartbreak the world had to offer.

She didn't realise that tears had started to pool in her eyes until Will took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze before pulling her into a hug.

"It'll be alright darlin'," he said softly. "Henry's a tough kid. We'll make the best decision we can for him and then we'll help him through the aftermath of that decision. He'll be alright"

Nodding, JJ pulled away, swallowing back tears as she turned back to Henry's doctor.

"All that aside... how is he?" she asked thickly.

Hamilton smiled. "The next few days will be a little touch and go, but I'm fairly confident Henry will make a full recovery. Your husband is right; he's a tough kid. He's made it this far"

Managing a weak smile, JJ reached across Will to shake the older man's hand. "Thank you for looking after him"

After shaking Will's hand as well, Hamilton rose from his seat. "I'm going to go back and check on Henry, so I'll leave you here to give the decision some thought. You won't be able to see Henry just yet, but I will come and find you as soon as you can"

"Thank you," Will said gratefully, giving the doctor one last smile as he turned and left the room.

Silence befell them as the words from the surgeon played through their minds.

"We have to let them do it," JJ whispered, looking up at Will. "There's no point in doing otherwise... it's just going to cause him pain and trouble"

"I know," Will replied heavily. "I was thinkin' the same thing"

Wiping away the last of her tears, JJ laid her head on Will's shoulder.

"He'll be alright," she said softly, echoing her husband's words back to him.

Without replying, Will wrapped his arms around JJ and held her close, both of them just needing the comfort of each other for a few moments in time before they left the room to face the new lives waiting for them outside the door.


End file.
